How to Get Published

By Al Kalar
I know I’ve harped on this before, but here’s a solid example so you can see how it’s done.

Anne McCaffrey is one of the top-selling authors in the Science Fiction and Fantasy arena. She’s a master of her craft.

I was re-reading a book of short stories (Get off the Unicorn, Ballantine/Del Ray 1977), when I ran across this short story. A sequel to her novel, The Ship Who Sang.

Background: Helva is a “shell person”, someone who can only live in a bio-shell, with special life-support. Her nerves and other functions have been merged with a spaceship (with her permission) so that she is the ship. Most “Brain Ships” are teamed with a “brawn”, a normal person who acts as a partner to do the things the ship’s “brain” (shell person) can’t do to complete an assignement.

Now, I want you to notice two things about these two pages:

1. She uses ONE dialog tag only (”said”). In spite of that, you never have any doubt as to who’s talking.
2. She keeps her “actors” in constant motion (okay, Helva can’t move, but she has verbal quirks to keep her “alive”). They are not two “talking heads”, but real-live people who move, gesticulate, scratch, etc. while carrying on a conversation.

These are two of the IMPORTANT things that make the difference between a “good” writer and a “great” author.

Here are the first two pages of the story:

By Al Kalar

Get rid of dialog tags

I’m on a crusade to get rid of dialog tags.

“What?” you may be saying. “How can you write dialog without tags?”

Simple. Substitute action. The above sentence could have been written:

“What?” You may have dropped your jaw in shock. “How can you . . .”

Dialog tag gone. (more…)

by Al Kalar

Head Hopping:

You’ve seen it in the writings of even established writers. The scene is being played out from the viewpoint of one character, when suddenly you’re given the internal reaction of another character. Some writers can do this without confusing the reader, but often the reader is left hanging, wondering who’s thinking or feeling something.

“Head hopping” is the result of sloppy writing. New authors (who get rejected because of this) and established writers who have become lazy are the most frequent offenders. The established writer gets away with it because his work will sell in spite of it and his publisher knows this (but still dislikes putting the story out that way). (more…)